Comic Con can wait

 It was suggested this week that maybe we have some fun in our online team meetings/check-ins at work. So I thought I would get the ball rolling by dressing up as General Leia Organa ( The Force Awakens) for our lunch time check-in today ! I had actually made this for Comic Con months ago (it has been postponed of course!), all I had to do to finish it off was make the belt buckle last night ( craft foam, craft wire & silver paint), and watch a YouTube clip on how to do my hair ( which took about 15 minutes and a whole lot of bobby  pins!).

The boots and belt were op shop finds, as was the jacket - it was the exact shade of purple I was after and had not actually been able to find the right colour and weight of fabric anyway! From memory it was about $4, and I unpicked the sleeves to run it into the vest.

Jacket and pants - because seriously a jumpsuit is just too impractical, not to mention too cold in this weather! - are made from the same pattern as my orange Rebel Pilot outfit, and like that costume the fabric came from Super Cheap. The orange was bought when the Roxburgh Park store was closing down, and this sagey-greenish fabric was bought when the Brunswick store was closing! Pretty sure it was only a couple of dollars a metre each time ( still have heaps of the sage left too). The main differences are the wide collar on this one, no extra pockets ( although I put proper side pockets on the pants, because…pockets! 

Oh and I had my official Leia ring on, Christmas gift from my son a few years ago - so of course I had to eventually make this outfit to match the ring!

Comic Con 2021...not quite

Melbourne Comic Con was supposed to be on this coming weekend, but has been postponed til November. 

I figured I should at least post an update of my outfit, although I have not done any work on it for a few weeks now. 

I have a heap more patches sewn on now, and really only need a couple more patches on each sleeve, and to sew a few to cover the back more. Then add some embroidery/ boro stitching for a bit of decoration.

I made a quick vest too- I had actually bought some linen on sale at Spotlight, it was the exact shade of blue I wanted. But then I found a slightly too small wool jacket at an opshop, for the bargain sum of $4. I unpicked the sleeves, recut the armscythe a little deeper for more room, then hemmed the new edges - waaay quicker than working out a pattern & making a vest from scratch!

Comic Con 2019 -sewing Thranduil

 Comic Con is on this year, in 2 weeks - but I have not bought tickets yet. Having just come out of lockdown, and quarantine as well in my house! - I just can’t see how it can still run.

I have been working on my Outlander patched shirt, but thought that instead I would finally get around to finishing posting about the Thranduil costume I made for Comic Con in 2019.

I used an op shop pattern to start with, and made a muslin out of calico. I drew texts lines to mark the different segments, and cut them out to make the new pattern pieces, with help from some online posts I found which showed where the sewing lines are. 

The silver/ green tinged fabric was a super lucky find from Spotlight, it was basically the first thing we found, and was exactly what I was looking for. Plus we were in Spotlight during the last day of a “ 40% off everything”  sale, excellent timing!

After checking & double checking the pattern pieces, consulting online posts, and lots of reference pics from the movie and making-of DVD’s, I cut out the pieces from the silver fabric and started sewing! I numbered each piece with stickers so they wouldn’t get mixed up, it was a bit like making a quilt. 

The boots were a lucky op shop find, they were white with elastic laces & cost the sum total of $2. I took the laces out and painted the boots  black. I found a pair of tall black boots at Savers, chopped them up and added elastic straps to hold them onto the under shoes. They turned out really well!

The crown and main brooch were made from a wire frame, hot glue,and paint. There was a great YouTube video on making the crown that was super helpful.

I did the first coat of paint, then rewatched some reference videos, and repainted with a different colour scheme. I also added some fake leaves - $2 shop aquarium plastic plants, which looked much better with a  touch of paint. My son was not convinced about the leaves, nor the boots, until he saw the finished products! He also was not initially keen on the $20 Rapunzel dress up wig I found at Spotlight, but I talked him out of spending $150 on a wig! I removed the braided hair section, and spent ages picking the glue from the braid out of the wig! Some online research led me to trying dry hair shampoo on the wig to take some of the shine off/ improve the colour a bit. A bit of brushing and shaping improved the hair; and a pile of hair clips, combined with the weight and shape of the crown anchored it in place. I nearly forgot the ears - found at a local costume shop ( would you believe there were about 3 different version to choose from!)

I always say a great costume is the sum of all the parts!

The rings were op shop finds, with a couple made from craft wire.

The scabbard/ sword holster was my H’s contribution to the outfit!

New project -more Outlander sewing!

 I have been thinking about this latest project for ages - Brianna’s patchwork shirt from Season 4.

I started by searching op shops for a suitable linen shirt, ended up with a couple but decided on this one ( Adele Palmer would you believe!) 

I dyed the shirt with some cheap home brand coffee -now  labelled “ shed” coffee but jokingly referred to as another 4 letter sh word- because it does NOT smell like coffee, not when you open the jar, nor even  that much when boiling water is added! Very weird!

But it works ok to dye a white linen shirt a cream/ off white colour, & my son has used it to dye leather also.

Inspiration & tips from https://redshoesredwine.com/costuming-brianna-outlander-s4-patchwork/

I cut up a pile of patches - some fabric from the stash, as well as some lovely “scraps” found at GJ’s fabrics on my trip there earlier in the year, and some from Jemima’s in Craigieburn too.

I started sewing patches on while watching a movie last weekend, and took the project with me ( in a smaller box now!) while waiting in hospital on Tuesday when my youngest had his wisdom teeth removed .

 Starting to make some progress now, but I still have the sleeves, collar & back to go- as well as adding some embroidery/ boro stitching. I was reluctant to start because my hand stitching is rubbish, but having done a few sashiko projects now I was more confident to get sewing; and was inspired by Sheila at Redshoesredwine to just start! And now I am hooked!